Parchment & Pen Blog

Warning: this post may not be suitable for younger audiences.

I have often heard it said that Adam and Eve had perfect fellowship with God for a long period of time before the fall. Some say years. Some even say that it could have been hundreds of years. Some say that they walked with God in the cool of the garden for an unknowable amount of time and were, because of this, the most educated and perfect beings the planet has ever known.

Nope. Can’t be. I say that the fall happened within 45min of creation.

That is right. I believe that the fall occurred 45 minutes after the creation of Eve. At the very most, I will give it a month—but that is pushing it.

First, a few things to make clear. 1) This is a part of the “fringe” series (look at the category placement). This is devoted to those questions that we don’t really have answers for. Most of the time, they are pure speculation. Most importantly, they don’t in any way contribute to essential (or even important) doctrine. No reason to split your church over this one. We are just having some fun. 2) I am assuming that Adam and Eve were real people specially created by God, not mythological accommodations. If you don’t agree, then this “fringe” post will be an even greater waste of time than it already is!

Okay, why do I believe that the fall happened so quickly? Children, cover your ears . . . sex.

Let me back up. It is hard to tell how long it was after God made Adam that he made Eve. Of course if you are a literal seven-day-creation advocate, you don’t have a problem giving an answer. It was the same day (Gen. 1:26-27). If you are a day-ager, then the sixth “day” on which Adam and Eve were created could have been a very long time. You know, that animal naming thing. Lots of animals. Lots of names (Gen. 2:19-20). Lots of time needed. However, I think that the animal naming exercise was rhetorical rather than expedient. In other words, I don’t think Adam named every species there is. He just named a lot. The exercise was to instigate in Adam a realization that he lacked something—he lacked a “helper.” It was not because God needed him to name every single species (even though there is a lesson there as well, but I won’t go there). Therefore, I think he could have finished in a couple of hours.  All of this to say that I believe that God created Adam and Eve on the same day. (Even though this is not essential to my 45min proposal.)

Now for the next step to my the-fall-happened-in-forty-five-minutes-no-longer-than-a-month-theory. Adam and Eve were perfect. They were without sin upon creation. If God gave them a command, they would obey. Adam has just named all the animals. He is thinking to himself This stinks. There is no one who I can have fellowship with and love. At least not in the way that fulfills this lack within me. God’s purpose is done. The itch has been created. Adam knows he needs someone, but he is not sure what. There is not even the concept of a “woman” in Adam’s mind.

Adam goes to sleep.

God does minor out-patient surgery, removing a rib.

God creates the woman.

Adam wakes up.

Adam sees the woman.

The woman is naked.

Adam has feelings he has never felt before (at least in the last twelve hours or so).

Adam sings a song that no one in the history of the world (not even Johnny Cash) has sought to remake.

The chorus of the song is “She is perfect.”

God gives one command: “Have sex.” Ahem…”Be fruitful and multiply . . .” (Gen. 1:28).

Adam thinks: “Have sex.”

Eve thinks “Be fruitful.”

At this point, we have a few options:

1. They said, “Nah…thanks but no thanks.”

But they were perfect. This would have been the sin of disobedience that led to the fall, not the eating of the fruit.

2. They said, “Maybe in a year or so…”

But Eve was naked. I could conceive of Eve saying “not tonight . . . this year, maybe next. But what excuse would she have had? No fall = no headaches. Plus, you have that command issue. When does procrastinating a direct command of God become sin?

3. They—and I mean that day—have sex and become “one flesh” or one family in attempt to multiply.

I go with number three. However, I have an issue. I don’t know what the female baby-making clock was like before the fall, but I imagine that the cycles were much like they are now, only perfect. I don’t think there would have been any problem on Adam’s end or Eve’s end in making a baby. Therefore, conception would have happened very quickly. Sometime that month at the latest. But my real issue is that there could not have been conception before the fall. Otherwise, we would have a race of beings that were born outside of the Adamic sin. You see, we are all called children of Adam (Rom. 5) and therefore children of the fall. The entire human race, every man and every woman are from fallen ancestors. Adam and Eve did not have any children outside of sin. Therefore, the conception of the first child came after they ate the apple.

So, here is my scenario:

God creates Eve. (7:59am)

God commands Adam and Eve to multiply. (8:00am)

They concede to this command, but don’t act yet on it. (8:01am)

They tour the Garden getting to know each other a bit. (8:02-8:40am)

Adam gets anxious. (7:59-8:40am)

Eve plays coy. (7:58-8:40am)

Adam shows her the tree of knowledge of good and evil. (8:41am)

Satan tempts Eve. (8:42am)

Adam does nothing (maybe he has something else on his mind?). (8:42am)

Eve eats the fruit. (8:43am)

Adam eats the fruit. (8:44am)

The fall is complete 45 minutes after the creation of Eve.

Adam and Eve finally have sex for the first time (9:02-9:04am) 

While I have had some fun with this post and while most of it is very speculative, I do believe that the fall happened very quickly due to the command to multiply and the reality that there was no one conceived outside of sin. At the most, I would give it a month so that the time for Eve to conceive would cover the cycle.

What do you think?

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